Automatic playing card dealing apparatus



Jan. 1,1952 L. F. FLORANT 2,581,247

AUTOMATIC PLAYING CARD DEALING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1949 Y 4Sheets-Sheet l .ZflFloranZ S INVENTOR N ATTORNEYS Jan. 1, 1952 F.FLORANT AUTOMATIC PLAYING CARD DEALING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledOct. 1'7, 1949 IN VEN TOR ATTORNEYS Jan. 1, 1952 L, F, FLORA 2,581,247

AUTOMATIC PLAYING CARD DEALING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1945 l g j,

4 Shee t-s-Sheet 3 A W A 29 9 40 35 "x 9 6/ -39 /Z /7 3 F: If z 26 (J 3f: 3.1";- 2'3 2 4 I A a" I INVENTOR} 1 I ATTORNEYS Jan. 1, 1952 L. F.FLORANT AUTOMATIC PLAYING CARD DEALING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledOct. 17, 194

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES ram OFFICE AUTOMATIC PLAYING CARD'DEALIN G APPARATUS Leroy F. Florant, Columbus, Ohio A plication October1'], 1949; Serial'No; 121,694

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an apparatus designed for use in dealingplaying cards, the primary object of the inventionbeing to provide anappar'a'tus including means for separatingthe cards into playing hands,depositing the cards in separate and distinct piles within a drawer,from which the separate hands may be removed for playing.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thischaracter which will be automatic in its operation, in that a springmotor will be wound for operating the mechanism of the apparatus, whenthe pack of cards is positioned in the drawer of the apparatus, and thedrawer insertedin the cabinet or case of the apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drawer with pivotedpartitioning members so of thetrays, in wh ich the cards are dealt bythe arranged and disposed that the partitioning members will beconsecutively elevated to allow the cards to be deposited therebetweenin groups of playing cards. I

With the foregoing and other objects in view which Will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a horizontal sectional view through the case or cabinet ofan apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the case or cabinet.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustrating the springactuated gear, in sideelevation.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view shown on lines of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 5- 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7- of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmental perspective view on an enlarged scale,illustrating the ratchet control means for the main gear of theapparatus.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail view illustrating the cam which elevatesthe separating trays in which the cards are deposited.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a clip used in gripping the score padand holding the pad on the cabinet or case.

Fig. 1-1 is a perspective view of the indicator indicating the deal. 1

Fig. 12 is a perspective view illustrating one machine.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the drawer in which the trays aresupported.

Fig. 14 is a view illustrating thebracket'mounted=in the bottompf thecase or cabinet-on Wh-ich the drawer slides.

Fig. 15' is a view illustrating the plateand curved lip of the plateover which cards pass into the trays.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view ofthe feed plate on which cards arepositioned in a pack for deal- 111%.

Fig. 17 is a perspective view of the drawer in which the pack of cardsis positioned.

Referring to the drawings-in detail, the device comprises a casingindicated generally by the reference character 5, which casing is formedwith an opening in one end; in which the drawer ii is moved, the drawer6' supporting the fol-lower i, which moves vertically therein, thefollower 'i' resting on the upper endof the spring 8' which has itslower end resting on the bottom of the drawer, the action of the springbeing to normally urge the follower 7 upwardly within the drawer.

Mounted within the casing with its ends operating in bearings formed inthe bars 9 and It, are idle shafts II on which the rolls IZ'are secured,which rolls operate within the open upper side of the drawer 5 andprovide stops, limiting the upward movement of'the cards [3 forming thepack of cards to be' dealt by the apparatus. As shown by Fig. 2 of thedrawings, the cards of. the stack being dealt, rest directly on thefollower 7, and since the follower is urged upwardly by the spring 8 itwill be obvious that the uppermost cardof the'pack is urged against therolls 1! 2 limiting upward movement of the pack of cards;

At the inner end of the drawer is the plate It that has its upper edge15 turned outwardly and downwardly, providing a surface over which thecards which are moved from the drawer 6 pass to the auxiliary traysupporting drawer It.

This tray supporting drawer it moves into an opening of the casingdisposed at the opposite end of the casing and slides on the bracket l'lsecured within the bottom of the casing, the extension !8 of the bracketl'l' providing a rest for the. drawer.

At the forward end of the drawer l6, are vertical bearing plates [9formed with spaced bearing openings in which the pintles 2d of the trays25 are located, so that the trays 2| may swing upwardly in a manner tobe hereinafter more fully described. These trays 2| are formed withupstanding flanges 22 disposed under the longitudinal side edgesthereof, which flanges provide means for confining cards positionedcnend of each the power gear 43 at the trays, to the trays, preventinglateral or twisting movement of the cards on the trays.

Each tray is formed with a slot 23 extending inwardly from the outer orfree end thereof, the

tray adjacent to the slot being formed with flanges 24 extendingupwardly therefrom, providing a stop at the free end of each tray. Theslots 23 of the trays permit the upstanding end 23 of the drawer IE tomove into contact with the cards in the trays, removing the cards fromthe casing.

Extending laterally from the inner end of each tray, is a pin 25, andthese trays when positioned within the tray-supporting drawer l6, restone upon another in such a way that the pins 25 will be disposed invertical spaced relation with respect to each other.

Within the casing 5, is the bearing plate formed with bearings in whichthe various shafts on which the operating gearing of the device operatesare journaled, shafts being also mounted in bearings formed in thebearing plate 9 se cured to the vertical partition 28 spaced from oneside wall of the casing 5.

At one side of the bearing plate 10 and secured to the inner surface ofone side wall of the casing, is the bearing plate 29 formed withbearings to receive the shafts on which gearing at one side of thecasing is mounted. The shaft 30 supports a large gear 3! and a smallgear 32, the gear 32 meshing with the large gear 33 mounted on the shaft34 to rotate therewith. The gear 35 is secured to one end of the shaft36 that extends across the casing, the shaft supporting the card dealingdisc 31 which is mounted intermediate the ends of the shaft 36 directlyover the forward ends of the cards being dealt. This disc is formed witha cut-out portion 38. The disc may rotate and remove cards from the packof cards being dealt, the cut-out portion 38 of the disc 31 allowing thedisc 31 to rotate free of the cards, during each cycle of operation ofthe disc, for purposes to be hereinafter more fully described.

On the inner end of the shaft 30, is secured the cam member 39 which hascams 4|], 4| and 42 of various lengths, so that the cam 4!, duringrotation of the cam member 39, will engage the pin 25 of the uppermosttray, elevating the tray above the adjacent lower tray, to permit cardsto be thrown into the tray directly thereunder by the card dealing disc31. It follows that as the cam member. 39 continues to rotate, the cam42 will engage the pin 25 of the adjacent lower tray 2|, elevating thistray to permit cards to be deposited on the adjacent lower tray. Uponfurther rotation of the cam member the cam will move under the pin 25 ofthe tray directly above the lowermost tray of the drawer, permittingcards to be dealt into the lowermost tray.

The power gear of the gearing, is indicated by the reference character43, and is loosely mounted on the shaft 44, the shaft 44 being providedwith the ratchet wheel 45, which is secured to the inner end of theshaft, the ratchet wheel 45 being disposed directly under the rack 45which is secured to one side of the drawer 6, so that as the drawer iiis moved into the casing, the teeth of theratchet bar 46 will engage theteeth of the ratchet wheel rotating the ratchet wheel 45 and shaft 44.The reference character 41 indicates a spring which has one of its endssecured to the shaft 44, while the opposite end of the spring is securedto the outer surface of 48, with the result that as or operator may theshaft 44 is rotated by the movement of the drawer 6 to its positionwithin the casing, the coiled spring 41 will be placed under tension.Secured to the outer surface of the power gear 43, and extending beyondthe periphery thereof, is the stop pin 49, which moves over the lowerend of the pivoted plate 50, which is normally disposed in the path oftravel of the pin 49, so that reverse movement of the gear due to theunwinding of the spring will be prevented until the drawer has beenmoved to the limit of its movement within the casing.

An extension 5| is formed on the upper end of the pivoted plate 50 andlies in the path of travel of the shoulder 52 formed on the outer end ofthe rack bar 46, with the result that when the drawer moves inwardly toits limit, the shoulder engaging the extension 5| will tilt the plate 59from the dotted line position as shown by Fig. '7 of the drawings, tothe full line position, releasing the gear 43 to the action of thespring 41, to operate the gearing of the apparatus.

The power gear 43 meshes with the gear 53, that in turn is secured tothe shaft 34, rotating the shaft 34. It will, of course, be understoodthat the gearing is so constructed that the speed of rotation of theshaft 36 and card dealing disc 3'1, will be greatly reduced, to properlyaccomplish the purpose of the invention.

At the upper end of the side members of the drawer 5, are laterallyextended fingers 54, which fingers provide stops for preventing removalof the drawer. Secured to the bottom of the casing and risingtherefrom,is the spring pawl 55, which engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel toprevent counter-rotation of the ratchet wheel after it has been rotatedby the movement of the drawer, to wind or tension the spring.

The reference character 56 indicates a bracket in which the shaft 51operates, the shaft 51 carrying the indicator 58 at its upper end, whileat the lower end of the shaft 58 is the star gear 59, which gear 59 isengaged by the pin 49 with each complete rotation of the gear 43,causing the indicator to move, indicating the number of times the powergear is rotated to deal packs of cards. In this way the attendantdetermine the number of times the complete pack of cards has been dealt.At one end of the casing, is the spring pressed clamp 69, under which ascore pad may be clamped on the top of the casing.

The top of the casing is provided with a recess 6!, which is of a sizeto contain packs of cards to be used in the machine.

In use, the drawer 6 is withdrawn from the casing a distance to permit apack of cards such as indicated at 13, to be positioned therein. Thedrawer 6 is now forced inwardly, with the result that the rack bar 46moves over the ratchet wheel 45 which rotates the shaft 44, winding thespring 4'3 to tension the spring sufficiently to rotate the power gearone complete revolution.

As the drawer is moved to the limit of its inward movement, the pivotedplate 59 is engaged by the shoulder 52 at the forward end of the rackbar 46,'moving the pivoted plate 50 out of contact with the stop pin 49,releasing the power gear 43, to the action of the spring which rotatesthe gear in a clockwise direction. As the power gear rotates, movementis transmitted to the card dealing disc 31, which moves the uppermostcard of the pack laterally onto the uppermost tray 2|. The cam 42 willnow engage the pin 25, extending the uppermost tray elevating the trayto a position so that the card dealing disc 31 in picking up theadjacent lower card of the pack will move the card under the uppermosttray and deposit the card on the second tray of the drawer 16.

It will, of course, be understood that the cams of the cam member are soarranged with respect to each other that when a card is dealt to a tray,the tray is elevated by a cam, for a period of time to permit a card tobe dealt to the tray directly thereunder, which operation is repeateduntil all of the cards have been dealt. It might further be stated thatthe spring 41 is so arranged that the power gear will be rotatedcontinuously until the entire number of cards of the pack are dealt, ortransferred from the drawer 6 to the drawer l6. As the cards are dealtfrom the drawer B, it is obvious that the follower 7 will act to urgethe cards upwardly for contact by the card dealing disc 31.

In view of the foregoing detailed disclosure, it is believed that afurther detailed description as to the operation of the card dealingapparatus is unnecessary.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed is:

A playing card dealing apparatus comprising a casing, a drawer movableinto the casing at one end of the casing in which a pack of cards isheld, a dealing disc operating above the cards in contact with theuppermost card of the pack, means for operating the disc, dealing thecards from the pack, a drawer operating in the opposite end of thecasing, disposed adjacent to one end of the first mentioned drawer, aplurality cf superimposed pivoted trays mounted in the second mentioneddrawer, a tray elevating means comprising a pin extending laterally fromone end of each tray, a rotating member having cams of various lengths,rotating adja-- cent to the trays, said cams engaging said pinselevating the trays successively separating the trays for predeterminedperiods of time for the reception of cards dealt from the pack by saiddealing disc, dividing the cards into playing groups.

LEROY F. FLORANT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,824,542 I-Iangerud Sept. 22,1931 1,867,690 Wendorf July 19, 1932 1,955,926 Matthaey Apr. 24, 19342,001,220 Smith May 14, 1935 2,099,187 Atti Nov. 16, 1937 2,159,958Sachs May 23, 1939

